AP Government Exam Vocab

Question 1

Equality in political decision making: one vote per person, with all votes counted equally.

Answer 1

political equality

Question 2

Equality in wealth, education, and status.

Answer 2

social equality

Question 3

The idea that each person is guaranteed the same chance to succeed in life.

Answer 3

equality of opportunity

Question 4

The concept that society must ensure that people are equal, and governments must design policies to redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality is actually achieved.

Answer 4

equality of outcome

Question 5

A consistent set of values and beliefs about the proper purpose and scope of government.

Answer 5

political ideology

Question 6

An economic doctrine that opposes any form of government intervention in business.

Answer 6

laissez faire

Question 7

A system of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one individual. Also called monarchy.

Answer 7

autocracy

Question 8

A system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few people.

Answer 8

oligarchy

Question 9

A system of government in which, in theory, the people rule, either directly or indirectly.

Answer 9

democracy

Question 10

A view of democracy as being embodied in a decision-making process that involves universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and responsiveness.

Answer 10

procedural democratic theory

Question 11

The classical theory of democracy in which government by the people is interpreted as government by the majority of the people.

Answer 11

majoritarian model of democracy

Question 12

An interpretation of democracy in which government by the people is taken to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups.

Answer 12

pluralist model of democracy

Question 13

A process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one.

Answer 13

democratization

Question 14

The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes.

Answer 14

social contract theory

Question 15

A government without a monarch; a government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed.

Answer 15

republic

Question 16

A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters.

Answer 16

confederation

Question 17

A majority greater than the minimum of 50 percent plus one.

Answer 17

extraordinary majority

Question 18

A form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.

Answer 18

republicanism

Question 19

The division of power between a central government and regional governments.

Answer 19

federalism

Question 20

The power to declare congressional (and presidential) acts invalid because they violate the Constitution.

Answer 20

judicial review

Question 21

The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict.

Answer 21

supremacy clause

Question 22

The collected attitudes of citizens concerning a given issue or question.

Answer 22

public opinion

Question 23

The complex process by which people acquire their political values.

Answer 23

political socialization

Question 24

Position in society, based on a combination of education, occupational status, and income.

Answer 24

socioeconomic status

Question 25

The implication that people choose what benefits them personally.

Answer 25

self-interest principle

Question 26

The difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time.

Answer 26

sampling error

Question 27

Continuous surveys that enable a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support.

Answer 27

tracking poll

Question 28

The means employed in mass communication; often divided into print media and broadcast media.

Answer 28

mass media

Question 29

Leaders who follow news in specific policy areas.

Answer 29

attentive policy elites

Question 30

The process in which a few policy elites gather information and then inform their more numerous followers, mobilizing them to apply pressure to government.

Answer 30

two-step flow of communication

Question 31

The degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered in the mass media.

Answer 31

newsworthiness

Question 32

Both reporting news and running commercials geared to a target audience defined by demographic characteristics.

Answer 32

market-driven journalism

Question 33

A situation that is so "newsworthy" that the mass media are compelled to cover it; candidates in eleections often create such situations to garner media attention.

Answer 33

media event

Question 34

A list of issues that need government attention.

Answer 34

political agenda

Question 35

The rule that requires broadcast stations to sell campaign air time equally to all candidates if they choose to sell it to any.

Answer 35

equal time rule

Question 36

Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics.

Answer 36

political participation

Question 37

Relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture.

Answer 37

conventional participation

Question 38

Relatively uncommon political behavior that challenges or defies established institutions and dominant norms.

Answer 38

unconventional participation

Question 39

Unconventional participation that involves assembling crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing.

Answer 39

direct action

Question 40

Behavior that seeks to modify or reverse government policy to serve political interests.

Answer 40

influencing behavior

Question 41

A legal action brought by a person or group on behalf of a numer of people in similar circumstances.

Answer 41

class action suit

Question 42

The right to vote; also called franchise.

Answer 42

suffrage

Question 43

The right to vote; also called suffrage.

Answer 43

franchise

Question 44

The process for removing an elected official from office.

Answer 44

recall

Question 45

An election on a political issue.

Answer 45

referendum

Question 46

A procedure by which voters can propose an issue to be decided by the legislature or by the people in a referendum; it requires gathering a specified number of signatures and submitting a petition to a designated agency.

Answer 46

initiative

Question 47

Citizens eligible to vote.

Answer 47

electorate

Question 48

An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization's name.

Answer 48

political party

Question 49

Designation as an official candidate of a political party.

Answer 49

nomination

Question 50

A closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office.

Answer 50

caucus

Question 51

A gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform.

Answer 51

national convention

Question 52

The statement of policies of a national political party.

Answer 52

party platform

Question 53

A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections.

Answer 53

party machine

Question 54

The system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes.

Answer 54

majority representation

Question 55

The system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that the party wins in an election.

Answer 55

proportional representation

Question 56

A group of interests or organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials.

Answer 56

coalition

Question 57

The tendency of a lesser-known or weaker candidate lower on the ballot to profit in an election by the presence on the party's ticket of a more popular candidate.

Answer 57

coattail effect

Question 58

A preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election.

Answer 58

primary election

Question 59

A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party's potential nominees.

Answer 59

closed primary

Question 60

A primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one party's primary ballot to take into the voting booth.

Answer 60

open primary

Question 61

A primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices.

Answer 61

modified closed primary

Question 62

A primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in a party's primary.

Answer 62

modified open primary

Question 63

A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party's national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate.

Answer 63

presidential primary

Question 64

A national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year.

Answer 64

general election

Question 65

In voting, a single party's candidates for all the offices.

Answer 65

straight ticket

Question 66

In voting, candidates from different parties for different offices.

Answer 66

split ticket

Question 67

A bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns.

Answer 67

Federal Election Commision (FEC)

Question 68

Financial contributions given directly to a candidate running for congressional office or the presidency.

Answer 68

hard money

Question 69

Funds that are not raised and spent for a specific federal election campaign.

Answer 69

soft money

Question 70

Committees named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code; they enjoy tax-exempt status in election campaigns if they are unaffiliated with political parties.

Answer 70

527 committees

Question 71

An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called a lobby.

Answer 71

interest group

Question 72

An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called an interest group. (Person who works with one?)

Answer 72

lobbyist

Question 73

The process by which new issues are brought into the political limelight.

Answer 73

agenda building

Question 74

The situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization (such as an interest group) but do not contribute to those activities.

Answer 74

free-rider problem

Question 75

An organization that pools campaign contributions from group members and donates those funds to canidates for political office.

Answer 75

political action committee

Question 76

Attempts to influence a legislator's vote through personal contact with the legislator.

Answer 76

direct lobbying

Question 77

Keeping track of government programs, usually by interest groups.

Answer 77

program monitoring

Question 78

A nonprofit group that may legally address political matters but may not lobby or campaign; donations to it are tax deductible.

Answer 78

501(c)(3) organization

Question 79

A nonprofit group that is permitted to lobby and campaign; donations to it are not tax deductible.

Answer 79

501(c)(4) organization

Question 80

Lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members.

Answer 80

grassroots lobbying